A country of beneficiaries
45 million euros, more than 400 funded projects, thousand of direct beneficiaries and a whole country of indirect beneficiaries. This is the balance sheet of the 2009-2014 period of the EEA Grants in Spain.
07.10.2016
The results of the EEA Grants in Spain showcase that the set objectives have been reached and even exceeded. The 45 million euros allocated to Spain in the period 2009-2014 have contributed to develop 412 projects in key areas such as R&D in environment and climate change fields, gender equality, NGOs, scientific research, culture or education.
Behind the big figures, there are the stories of the hundreds of thousands of direct and indirect beneficiaries:
-Within the Gender Equality Programme, 15,000 women have directly benefited since they have taken part in the seminars, workshops and training organized by the projects. But the total number of beneficiaries is much higher and difficult to quantify because many of the projects were seeking a long-term effect in issues such as gender-based violence, pay gap or socio-labour inclusion of vulnerable groups.
-In the NILS Science and Sustainability programme, direct beneficiaries have been the 201 Spanish students who have received a useful complement to the Erasmus scholarship to study in Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein; or the 236 scientific researchers who have cooperated in 101 research projects. Nonetheless, the beneficiaries are the whole society because the focus of the projects is strategic challenges such as climate change, natural resources of health.
-115,000 people have benefited from the 38 projects developed within the Active Citizenship Programme, but the effects extend much further because the EEA Grants have helped 120 NGOs to mitigate the impact of the crisis and prepare themselves for future challenges in their important assistance work.
-176 small, medium and big Spanish companies have implemented R&D environmental projects whose results will have a clear application in society. So, once again, the real beneficiaries of the Environment and Climate Change Programme are the whole country.
-19 individual artists and 8 cultural organizations have received support to foster contemporary art and culture through a projects that have reached a broad audience, contributing to enrich the cultural offer.
In some cases, these projects will continue, without the EEA Grants, but what is certain is that their effects will stand the test of time, especially because of the bonds created among Spanish companies and institutions and those from Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.